Old Bear Farm
Captain is an 18 year old, 16.1 hand Belgian Draft Horse. He is owned by myself and my dad and does lessons when we aren't having our own fun with him. Despite his age, he can still be a little green under saddle – not unsafe, just not as educated as some of the others, due to the fact that he had never been ridden until about 2 years ago. Since starting him, we have been doing some basic dressage and some trail riding with him. He has also gone to the kids event camp at Valinor Farm in Plymouth, where he even got to jump some of the smaller cross country jumps.
Griffin is an 18 (I still can’t believe he’s 18!) year old, 14.1 Connemara Pony. He is a great lesson pony and is just the right height for both children and adults alike. He is steady and easy for beginners, but agile and competitive with more advanced riders. He has competed through Novice level eventing and done up to Training level dressage, as well as riding western, and of course, pony rides..
Cody is a 23 year old, 14.3 hand Spanish Mustang that I purchased in Texas for a student back home here while I was in the Army. By a happy accident, she found another horse by the time I got him home, and the rest is history. He has literally been all over the country with me, and has a ranch horse personality – he can just do it all and doesn’t bat an eyelash – I have used him for herding turkeys (yes, TURKEYS) when some of our previous horses were scared to walk by them on the trail…and we competed at the Versatile Horse and Rider Competition at Equine Affaire in 2007. He has slowed down a little over the past few years due to a leg injury and heaves, but still enjoys helping with pony rides, some basic ringwork and walking trail rides.
Monster is our “puppy” – although he just turned 9! He is a 16.1 hand thoroughbred, and raced until he was 4. I got him through the MSPCA when he was 5 and began his retraining. My focus with him is eventing- although we have not evented extensively yet due to an accident I had last summer which ended our competition season early. We have done many schooling dressage shows competing at Training level (schooling 1st level movements now) and schooled jumps up through 3’3. We have also participated in the breed demo at Equine Affaire as well as several clinics. He also loves trail rides and is thankfully safe enough for beginners, so he is used for lessons occasionally also.